


Once Upon Our Time

by azri



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Once Upon a Time Fusion, F/M, OUAT - Freeform, Trespasser Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-13
Updated: 2015-10-01
Packaged: 2018-03-30 09:34:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3931867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/azri/pseuds/azri
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On the eve of her twenty-eight birthday, Ellana Lavellan found a strange boy on of her doorsteps - imploring her to go home with him to a mountainside town called Skyhold.</p><p>From a prompt in the DA Kink Meme : A Once Upon a Time AU where Fen'Harel casts a dark curse over Thedas - transporting everyone into a world without magic.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Ellana Lavellan had planned to spend the eve of her twenty-eight birthday the same way she had spent it for the past seventeen years - With a mug of hot cocoa and a chat with her Keeper. 

Her kettle is already boiling, and soft Dalish melodies wafts from the open door of her bedroom and it’s _perfect_. The fact that her Keeper is a blurry image on the screen of her laptop, millions of miles away, is a small footnote in her plans. Tradition is tradition, and she had done her obligatory ‘getting so drunk I tried to climb a telephone pole’ birthday drinking with Anders and the crowd from her publisher yesterday night. 

Speaking of which, her head is still reminding her of that particular bad decision, and she was actually looking forward to a relaxing night spent with her second mother.

That was, until a loud series of knockings began assaulting her doors. Ellana almost spills her cup of cocoa, while her Keeper's face in the screen morphed in a knowing smile she was all too familiar with. The same kind of smile she saw growing up, when she was trying to explain disappearances from lessons or hide hands stained with the juices of stolen blueberries

“Expecting birthday guests, Da’len?”

“No! I told you I’ve already done the city birthday thing, hahren”

The knocking gets, if possible, even louder - and she begins to worry that it might wake the Theirins's baby next door. Over the ocean, her Keeper’s smile - if possible – grows wider. 

“Don’t worry about me, Ellana - You of all people deserve to enjoy your birthday. Go now, have fun!” Keeper Deshanna waves her hand at the screen, and her image winks out as the call disconnected.

Ellana made a frustrated noise, dashing to her doorway even as the barrage of knocks continued in time with the returning post-party throb in her head. It must be Anders, or worse still - Anders and Oghren, the latter of whom had expressly stated his disappointed that no one even got arrested during their birthday drinking. She flings the door of her apartment open, fully intending on giving her friends a large and spiky piece of her mind. 

“Okay boys, there better be some really good explanation-“ 

She stops in her tracks when she encounters thin air in front of her instead of her best friend’s wide grin and stupid feathered jacket, or her second-best friend’s bushy beard and stained trash metal t-shirt. Then her gaze trained down, down to a pair of unbelievably wide pale blue eyes.

“Ellana!”

She barely had any time to ask him how he knew her name before she was tackled to the ground by a mess of happy, gangly limbs. 

 

*****************************

 

A cup of hot cocoa later, her guest finally calms down – Having apologized profusely for knocking her down because apparently he was _very excited to see her_. His words, not hers - And Ellana uses the lull provided by their drinks to mull over that particular piece of information, plus the whole bizarreness of the situation in general. 

Upon closer inspection, her surprise guest turns out to be a _kid_. Couldn’t be more than ten - although she reckons it’s easy for him to be mistaken as someone older due to his gangly form and the floppy baseball cap shadowing his boyish features. Based on what she could glean from his disjointed explanation, the boy’s name is Cole, and he apparently travelled all the way from the neighboring state - a small town called Skyhold - using his father's credit cards. He seemed inordinately proud of that fact, while Ellana just got increasingly worried. Not only she has a kid in her apartment, she has a _runaway kid_. She briefly toys with the idea that this might have been an elaborate birthday prank set up by her friends, but the absurdity of that was just too…absurd. 

Her head snapped up at a rustling sound, and she found that during her brief musing, Cole had vacated his place on her kitchen table and wandered towards her living room – long fingers running against the mass of crinkled paper lining a good portion of her walls, eyes darting from one letter-filled sheet to another. 

“Why do you have so much words on your wall?” 

“Well, that’s my job, kid. I’m a writer” She smiles, then - tentatively – because she loves what she does and there is wonder in those huge blue eyes that she recognizes in herself “And when I have trouble finding the right words, I put them up in the wall so I can see them easier” 

Cole was silent for a moment, his hands continuing to play with the edges of her papers. When he spoke again, it was in a slow, clipped tone – seemingly detached and yet heartfelt at the same time ,“A warm home, good friends, no one is depending on you, and you can finally do what you’ve always wanted to” then he took a sharp, quick breath – as if he realizing a strange and novel fact.

“You’re happy”

He blinks then, as if shaking off something clouding his vision before his too-pale eyes locked against hers and there is something infinitely, frighteningly familiar in that simple act. 

Ellana finds that she doesn’t have anything to say to that, because this is getting _way_ too bizarre. Strange kid popping up in the middle of the night during her birthday? Weird, but still probable. Said kid knowing her name? Definitely weird, but possible logical explanations might arise. Said kid giving her an impromptu psych eval while fondling her makeshift wallpaper? Well now that’s just Twilight Zone material, and right then Ellana decided to put a stop to it all. There is a runaway kid standing on her living room and his parents must be worried sick by now – Creators know how Deshanna must have felt everytime she and Tamlen ran off on one of their ill-advised ‘adventures’, and that was only to the creek behind their neighborhood. This boy is crossing _freakin state lines_.

“Yeah kid, I’m pretty happy” Ellana says slowly, walking up a short distance to where to boy is standing and propping herself up against the wall. “But right now, I also have a lot of questions – Think you can help me with that?” 

“I - I want to help” Cole’s strange reply brought another wave of familiarity crashing on the back of her mind, and Ellana had to physically restrain herself from babbling out the millions of questions the boy had prompted. Her gut feeling tells her that she has to be careful – Brief as their interactions had been, she can clearly see that Cole is unlike any regular ten year olds she frequently sees, and she doesn’t want to add any more strain to what might have existed to make him jump on a bus to another state. 

“First thing first, why are you here?” Simple questions are usually best, although once the question left her mouth, she realizes that that might have been the hardest possible question to answer. 

And yet, the boy before her brightens visibly – Like a kid during an exam, given a question he knows exactly the answer to. And he probably did all along.

“I’m here to take you home with me”


	2. Chapter 2

Over the rim of her styrofoam cup, Ellana can make out the upper part of an Dalish bradh – the golden brown braids glistening with maple sugar and honey. It was by pure luck that they had spotted the small Dalish bakery – the timber building and adjoining old gas pump making a quaint little island in the highway’s rocky landscape. It’s not super authentic or anything, but it was definitely better than Starbucks. Ellana took another gulp from her too-hot elfroot tea before she sighs and looks down at Cole’s huge blue eyes – his hands holding up the pastry right in front of her nose. 

“Isn’t it too early for that much sugar, kid?” 

He blinks in that earnest way she’s getting increasingly familiar with “No, it’s for you. You always said that these makes you feel better when you’re confused”  
Ellana didn’t know what she sputtered out as a reply, or maybe she didn’t reply at all – but she ended up with the pastry in her hands while Cole happily scampered off to peruse the wooden figurines the owner had arranged on the dusty windows. Ellana sighs again, labeling the exchange as something she has to think about later as her body waits for caffeine to kick in. But she has a feeling that it would be just another addition in an ever-growing pile of bizarre occurrences.

If anyone had told her that she’d spend the first day of being twenty-eight on a weird road trip with a strange kid to a small town called Skyhold – of all things - Well, that someone would probably have been Merrill. Like, a very drunk Merrill with an ukulele as dramatic soundtrack. But she digresses. Over the eight full hours that she had turned twenty-eight, things had been downright _weird_. 

_“Oookay, wow, that escalated quickly – I mean, Cole, why would you want me to..come home with you?” Ellana’s mind had struggled to comprehend the absurdity of Cole’s answer. Home, he said, as if it was hers too._

_“Because back home, everyone is happy, but he isn’t. And he should be, but you’re not there.”_

_“I don’t understand, who is – “_

_“That’s why you have to come home with me, Ellana. So everyone can be happy” And there was no doubt at all, nothing wavering in the boy’s pale blue eyes. No one can tell the truth like a child, and at least for him, this was a truth he believed with every fiber of his being._

And the weirdest thing was that she had agreed. She had nodded, to Cole’s utter joy and another episode of his whirlwind hugging. She then ushered Cole to bed in her room, googled the directions to Skyhold, and left an email for Anders and Merrill that she’ll be taking a short trip out of state before settling down on her sofa to sleep herself. 

In retrospect, she probably shouldn’t be so calm. Heck, she probably shouldn’t be here at all – halfway down the interstate highway to a strange small town that might very well be a cultist haven of some sort. However way she looked at it, Cole’s wording was just too strange – So everyone could be happy? Creators, who even says things like that? It sounds verbatim out of some deranged telechanter in dubious late -night channels. 

And yet, if Skyhold _is_ really a mountain-worshipping cult of some sort, there is now way that she’ll let Cole back there without a say at all. Even in the super brief time she had known him, the boy sparks something warm and in her chest, and the forgotten ones take her if she lets any harm come to him. 

Ellana sighs again, looking down at the makeshift breakfast in her hands before settling them down on the counter and paying for their purchases. Styrofoam cup and paper bag balanced on one arm, she approaches Cole, who is still crouched on the bakery’s window. 

As she peers over Cole’s baseball cap, she notices that the figurines depicts the traditional Dalish pantheon – familiar figures that littered her childhood and most of her adult life. She smiles, despite herself, and sits beside him on the windowsill – picking up one of the figurines herself. Mythal’s serene smile looks back at her, and something softens inside of her as she turns to fully face Cole. 

“My Keeper – that’s like my teacher – Used to tell me stories about them. Everyone has a different story” She gestures to the small figure between Cole’s finger. “Who have you got there?”

Cole wordlessly lifted a small, white wolf - Six blue dots drawn crudely around its snout - His eyes rapt with attention on the promise of a story. 

“Ooh, Fen’Harel – He’s a smart one, that one" Ellana settles down more comfortably on her impromptu seat " The story goes that the people of old and the forgotten ones were constantly at war. They fought so much that everyone was very, very sad. So Fen'harel tricked both the people of old and the forgotten ones to a faraway land, where their weapons are taken from them forever and they can't fight anymore. So everyone could be happy" 

_So everyone could be happy_

_Something_ stirs inside Ellana's mind, and for a moment she only stares at the rough wooden carvings before her, morning sunlight bathing the small nook, her own words hanging in the air while Cole's steady gaze never left her. 

"But was he happy?"

Ellana blinks, and her finger slips - Mythal's green-robed effigy rolling with a dull rattle against the wood of the windowsill. "Who is?"

"Fen'Harel. Was _he_ happy?"

Of course, she wants to answer - the words on the tip of her tongue. The trickster God had succeeded, and like the countless stories before it, he would have been hugging himself with glee over this greatest achievement. But she holds her tongue as something worms its way up the dusty corridors of her mind - the same thing that had been plaguing her mind ever since Cole appeared on her doorstep.

"I...actually don't know, kid"


	3. Chapter 3

After all the mystery and buildup she had been accumulating in her head, Skyhold turned out to be exceedingly _normal_. It was indeed a small town – the kind that only has one main street and exactly one iteration of each thing a town usually needs. It was also very pretty, the rows of old-fashioned houses with snow-capped mountains on the background looking straight out of a quaint postcard. 

The writer part of her cannot help but feel a tad disappointed at the normalcy surrounding her. Another part of her, a certain patch that is always in the firm belief that zombie apocalypses and elevator malfunctions are just around the corner, cheerily suggested that _of course_ all the cultist town looks perfectly normal. All she has to do is rent a room in that one quaint inn next to the quaint little diner, and soon enough she’ll wake up as the centerpiece of a nice bonfire surrounded by chanting townsfolk. 

“Okay Kid, an address would be nice” Ellana glanced at the boy on the passenger seat, only to find him out of his seatbelt and pressing his face on the window. His hands seem to be trying to wave and point at the same time, all hindered by the fact that there’s a plexiglass sheet between him and whatever he’s pointing.

“Stop the car, Ellana – It’s Josephine!”

Ellana barely managed to park haphazardly amongst the row of (also quaint) cars along the street before Cole bounded out into the streets. The thing that Cole had been pointing out turned out to be a someone – A young woman bundled up in a stylish ensemble of blue and saffron yellows, eyes intent on the document on her hands, at least before she catches Cole’s exuberant wave at her.

“Maker, Cole! Is that you? Where have you been?” The woman ran all the rest of the way despite her dainty heels before she knelt and fussed over Cole with a familiarity that suggests everyday close proximities. Ellana jogged to where the two was kneeling on the sidewalk, feeling awkwardly misplaced now that Cole is well, kinda _home_. There is, she noticed, something slightly different in him, with the town surrounding him – Like he belonged, somehow, like the landscape around him somehow made him more Cole. Which is crazy talk, of course – But hey, she didn’t exactly get her morning coffee today.

“To the City!” The painfully earnest exclamation was, however, perfectly the Cole she knew from the few brief hours she had known him.

“The City? How did - Cole, what did we tell you – “

“I know, but it’s okay, Josephine. Ellana took me home when she found me at the bus stop” Cole’s smile was almost beatific and almost, _almost_ , made Ellana skip over the fact that the kid has just straight up _lied_. For a moment, she was at lost at what to think. Like, of course kids fib and lie to avoid getting reprimanded, what really made her think that cole won’t? Why is this bothering her so much? 

Ellana’s frantic train of thought was cut off by the woman – Josephine’s? gaze shifting towards her. The older woman smiles warmly at her, rising to her feet with an easy elegance after patting Cole gently but firmly atop his hat.

“I really must apologize. Cole does this sometimes, and we’ve been working on it for some time now..” Josephine glanced at her watch and gasps, hands fluttering around before she picked up her forgotten document. “Now I would escort him back to school, or back home - but I’m actually in a bit of hurry so perhaps - “

“Oh, there’s no need! It’s no problem at all – I was trying to get him back to his parents anyway. Would you happen to know where I should…” Ellana knew she could probably just leave Cole in Josephine’s seemingly capable hands. She seems very familiar with Cole, and it’s clear that there is some genuine affection there – But of course her curiosity reared its head at the prospect of coming all this way and not see what Cole’s fuss was all about. 

“Oh, just down this road then – you won’t miss it, the Mayor’s house is the one with the big rotunda on the front”

Once they climbed back to Ellana’s yellow bug, she turned and stared incredulously at the boy beside him “You’re the _Mayor’s son_?”

“My dad is a good mayor” Cole’s answer, like everything about him, was earnest and heartfelt and completely arbitrary. Ellana sighed.

“That’s not what I mean, kid. Oh Creators, how much trouble are we in, exactly? Like, how mad would your Mayor dad be once we pop up there?” With her luck, there is a chance that Oghren’s wish for birthday incarceration could become true after all.

“He won’t be angry. Not when he sees you”

“Wait, what? Hold up, kid - ”

_“Because back home, everyone is happy, but he isn’t. And he should be, but you’re not there.”_

“So when you said that everyone is happy…but he isn’t, did you mean your dad?"

“Yes”

Again, Cole said this with such certainty that Ellana had to pause on that. Incarceration or mail order bride for cultist leader? Ellana honestly didn’t know which one would be worse, or more more ironic, considering how large and obvious the warning signs had been so far. The next time Velanna accuses her characters of passing around the idiot ball for the sake of the plot, she shall cite this very moment as being very, very real. The idiot ball truly does exist, especially when life suddenly thrusts a runaway kid in your doorstep.

“Okay” She sighed again, fingers drumming on the steering wheel “Okay – I’m dropping you at your house and then that’s it, okay?”

“But you’re going to meet my dad, right? Please, you can’t leave until you meet him!”

As with the first time he had called her here, there is something in Cole’s eyes that jostled at an unnamed part in her mind – vague and fleeting but somewhat important, somehow. And she knew, despite all rational thought, that doing exactly what Cole tells her to would probably be the only way she’ll get any answers at all. 

“Sure, kid“

 

The Mayor’s house was indeed hard to miss – but it has less to do with the admittedly impressive rotunda on its façade and more with how many cars and bicycles were parked in front of it. 

“Did something happen?” Ellana wondered aloud, pulling Cole from her passenger’s seat. As they got closer, Ellana could see that a small crowd had gathered in front of the house’s open doors – spilling from the porch to the perfectly manicured lawn. 

Amongst them she could make out the stout figure of a man arguing loudly with a tall, imposing woman – a blond man clad in the unmistakable garb of a small-town sherriff trying unsuccesfully to get between them while a beautiful redhead watched from the sidelines. An impeccably dressed woman, wearing what seem to be a fascinator hat of some sorts, huffed in resignation before she disappeared into the house. To the side, a group of extremely mismatched individuals was poring over a map, seemingly headed by a giant of a man wearing an _eyepatch_. It was a hodgepodge of people that she admittedly won’t expect to find there, given the pristine suburban setting. 

Snippets of conversation floated faintly towards them, a multitude of different accents trampling over one another. 

“I mean, he couldn’t have gone far”

“Well remember that time Varric decided to go ‘hiking’? He ended up in Haven!”

“All I’m trying to say is that we should – “

“COLE!”

This last bit was rendered in an ear-splitting shout, and a blur of confusion later, the tall woman had strode in front of them, picking the boy up in an effortless bear hug while the remaining crowd approached them. 

“Where have you BEEN?” the woman did not let Cole go, her heavily accented voice muffled by Cole's head. 

“I’m okay, Cassandra – It is all right” 

The woman sighed, and set the boy down – her arms crossed and her expression stern. Beside her, the stout man peered beneath the shade of Cole’s baseball cap.  
“You should know how worried we are, Cole. Your father has been beside himself”

“I know, Varric. I am sorry”

Even without seeing it, Ellana could imagine Cole’s innocent, too-large blue eyes peering beatifically from beneath his cap – and kind of commiserated with the man as he sighed in what seemed like defeat.

“Come to think of it, someone should get Chuckles before he decides to call the National Guard or something – Hey Bull!“ 

A small commotion ensued from beyond the double Orlesian doors, and a moment later a man burst out of the house before he swept Cole into a tight embrace.  
The two of them stayed that way for some time, giving Ellana the chance to study the man holding Cole – Most probably his dad. She was initially surprised at how _different_ they look. While Cole is all gangly limbs and floppy hair, what she could see of the man is slender and elegant – the delicate edges of his faces accentuated by his cleanly shaven head, dark suit crisp against his lean frame.

And yet, there is something in the man that _does_ remind her of Cole. It’s in the way they moved, perhaps, like - 

_“Ellana?”_

The voice was alien and yet somehow familiar – and it was uttered in something like pure surprise. Ellana’s eyes snapped to the source of it, only to find the man staring straight at her from atop Cole’s head. His eyes are like stormclouds, the barest hint of blue peeking out as it widens and all of a sudden Ellana couldn’t _breathe._

“You alright there, Solas?”

_Solas, his name is Solas._

“I am fine, Varric – Thank you” Ellana could clearly see that he is in no way fine. The man is pale as death, the long fingers on Cole’s shoulders trembling ever so slightly. And yet, as he disentangled himself from Cole, something seemed to snap into place, chasing away the shakiness in his frame. It was mere moments, yet by the time he is fully standing and turning towards her, the man is a picture of calm composure. 

“Forgive my lack of hospitality, I believe we have not been properly introduced yet” His smile is small and studied, his hand surprisingly gentle as he reached out to shake hers “Solas. I am Cole’s father. And you seem to have brought him back to our door”

It took Ellana a few moment to realize that she is still holding Solas’s hand, but it was the man who withdrew his first, his face unreadable even as her heart hammers in her chest. What the fuck is _wrong_ with her? It’s a fucking _handshake_ , for the love of the Creators. 

And yet, his warmth lingered – gentle and delicate and strangely, strangely familiar. 

“Ah, Ellana – Ellana Lavellan. I, your son, he – “

“She found me on the bus stop” Cole interjected – “I tried to go to the city, like Varric does in the winter. But it’s too big, too noisy, I got lost but Ellana is there – weekends and birthdays and she needed a vacation, so she takes me back”

“Is that so?” Solas’s steely gaze shifted to her, and yet she could not help looking at Cole – seemingly so small and alone now as his blue eyes beseeched her.  
“Please” he mouthed “Please don’t go yet”

And how exactly is she supposed to refuse _that_? 

“Yeah. Skyhold seemed like a good place to go on vacation as any” Her smile is thin and forced, and she could read as much from the slight tightening of Solas’s expression. 

“I see” He smiled back, the smallest quirk of his mouth that in no way reached his eyes “I truly thank you for bringing my son back - Cole is...special, and sometimes need a little extra care. My apologies for burdening you with such“

“No problem at all” Ellana felt dazed, displaced, her fingers flexing and unflexing at her sides as the Mayors eyes lingered on hers. There is a strange hint of sadness in those eyes, a sadness that is somehow familiar – Like Cole’s words in her apartment. 

_He knew her name_. He knew her name, just like Cole

“I hope you enjoy your visit in our little town” Ellana blinked to find that she is already at the threshold of the Mayor’s gate, the crowd already dispersing in a thin stream around them. His tone was curt and his face impassive, hands folded serenely behind his back and it is crazy but something in his impassiveness stung her. 

_Cold shoulders and face turned the other way, it hurts, it hurts, but he is hurting too._

She blinked again before excusing herself with a stiff nod, flustered and confused, the phantom memory – was it Cole’s voice? – echoing in her head all the way to her car. At this rate, she'll probably need to stop worrying about weird small town cults and start worrying about her own sanity. 

But what she definitely need is a _drink_.


	4. Chapter 4

Ellana ended up in the only bar in town, which apparently also functioned as the local diner – A charming affair of wooden countertops, gingham curtains, and soft Orlesian music piped in with just the right volume. The redhead she saw on the Mayor's house was behind the counter, having traded her lavender coat from earlier with a crisp white apron and humming softly to the tune wafting through the sparsely populated diner. 

She smiled as Ellana took a seat on the bar top – which didn’t waver one bit as Ellana ordered a shot of whiskey and a portion of the day’s special waffle. Daytime drinking is definitely not one of her favorite pastime, but well, she’s on vacation now, supposedly, and all this craziness definitely warrants a drink. 

The shot cleared her head and burned her throat, which was all that she needed. Any second shot was usually just for show – for her to put in front of her as she talked or listened to her friend’s crazy antics, while subsequent additional shots she usually chalks up as bad life decisions. And now that she’s sat down and the glass is empty between her fingers, Ellana found herself wondering why exactly she decided to stay. 

Sure, she’s still a bit worried about Cole. Despite the number of people who seemed to genuinely care for him, despite how much his father clearly loves him, there must have been something that drove him to just run away on a bus to look for…her? The running away part she could justify as an early stage of rebellion, probably combined with how the boy’s thought process seem to be different than anyone else’s. But it’s the fact that he knew to specifically look for her that gives her pause. Where did he even find her address? Knew her name?

And most importantly, how did his _father_ know her name? She has no recollection of meeting anyone that looked even vaguely like the Mayor. Is it possible that he might have been one of Deshanna’s students at the university? 

The soft clink of ceramic against wood dispersed Ellana’s admittedly futile train of thought – and she looked up to see a plate of waffles that looked like it came straight out of Pinterest. Laid out on an eggshell-blue plate, the waffle looked fluffy and flawless, heaped with clotted cream and blueberries and glistening maple syrup, and she could feel her mouth water even before the plate settled completely in front of her. 

“Wow” Ellana breathed, and in front of her, the redheaded woman gave a small, melodic laugh. Ellana didn’t waste a second before descending on the plate, and almost moaned as she discovered that the waffle tasted as good as it looked. Well, even if this whole thing turned out to be nothing, at least she gets to have a kickass breakfast-for-lunch out of it. 

“So How are you finding our little town?“ 

Ellana stopped in mid-chew before realizing that the woman was talking to her, eyes expectant and glimmering with curiosity.

“It’s really pretty” Ellana swallowed “And real quiet, too. It’s really relaxing, I guess, after being in the city for so long” And Ellana realized that she’s really not just saying it. Despite the fuss with Cole, there is something undeniably tranquil about the town – the crisp air and the faint scent of things just _growing_. It reminded her a bit of home, and the fact that it’s been almost a year since she visited back. 

“Ah yes, yes it does” She smiled again, before proffering her hand “Leliana” 

“Ellana” Leliana's hand is soft yet firm against her own, callused in places she couldn’t pinpoint the cause of. Perhaps some kind of musical instrument?

“Also, I must thank you for what you did for Cole” Leliana said “Bigger cities can be dangerous sometimes, and I’m very glad that it’s you who ended up finding him. Cole is very dear to us, and I couldn’t bear to think of anything happening to him”

“We all practically watched that kid grow up, when Chuckles said he’s gone missing, it’s feels like there’s a dozen of panicking parents milling about rather than just the one“

The voice that joined their conversation was warm and smooth and slightly familiar, and Ellana turned to see the stout man from the Mayor’s house clamber up the stool next to her. 

“Varric Tethras, at your service” The man said with a wink and a small flourish of his hand, and combined with the gold earrings on his ear and the fact that his shirt is halfway unbuttoned, the whole package should have looked plain sleazy. But all she felt from the man is an easy kind of warmth, as if he's an old friend that just popped up after years of absence. But there is something else, it's his name...

“Wait, you’re Varric Tethras?” Ellana had indeed heard that name many times, especially from Merrill’s excited tales – Varric Tethras - a wildly popular romance novelist who worked for the romance line of their publisher and had been one of Merrill's early finds. They had kept in contact throughout the years, and the man has a bit of sending his former editor a potted plant every few weeks or so (that are slowly but surely overtaking her office) and strangely enough, balls of yarn (Although Merrill definitely does not, or should be allowed to crochet). “As in, the Varric Thetras who wrote the Champion series?”

Varric’s eyes twinkled jovially as he nodded “One and the same! Although I was also wondering if I’ve seen you somewhere – Are you by chance, one of Daisy’s writer?” 

Soon, she found out that outside of Merrill, they actually possess a wide array of mutual friends, mostly fellow writers, but also some surprising ones like Anders- whose girlfriend is apparently Varric’s best friend since highschool. At some point during the conversation, Varric ordered a bottle of wine and poured both of them a generous helping, which Ellana sipped out of politeness, but was soon inhaling down with how good it also is. After their talk winded down and Leliana had wandered off to take care of other customers, her earlier thoughts about Cole caught up to her, and Ellana decided that asking Varric would probably do no harm. 

“So, you actually live here?”

“Kind of, I’ve always spent a good few months to write here every year – It’s a bit like a second home now, Skyhold” Varric leans back on his chair, his lips twisting in a fond, nostalgic smile “I remember the first time I went here Cole was just this tiny, tiny thing in Chuckles's nervous arms. Shit, time flies, doesn’t it?” 

“So you’ve known the Mayor for quite some time too?” Ellana hoped that she didn’t sound too direct or too curious, but then again Varric is not a best selling romance writer for nothing. The moment she closed her mouth, she could almost _feel_ Varric’s eyebrows waggling in interest. 

“You mean Chuckles? Did tall dark and extremely polite caught your eye? He is single, you know” Varric inquired, and Ellana tried to fight the blush from creeping up her neckline. The Mayor certainly did not catch anything but her mild annoyance, but she knew it was a losing battle when she saw how Varric’s expression had settled into an indulgent yet gleeful grin.

“Well…It’s just...He seemed to be an interesting man. And I’m kind of curious because he’s Cole’s father and all” And extremely curious on what might be happening in that household to make Cole to run all the way to her apartment.

“Well, he’s a real good sort, that one. Kind of old school, but he cares a lot. Always had time for everyone, always knew what everyone needed” Varric paused, weighing the bottle on his hand before pouring both of them a measure “But always so sad. I don’t actually know what his deal is, and I don’t think anyone’s going to know. Guy’s tighter than a Chantry Sister when it comes to his own business” 

“And Cole?”

“He does his very best to raise him. Like, he’s a veritable helicopter mom and a very loving dad rolled into one, but Cole…I think you’d have realized by now that Cole is different. It gets difficult sometimes, but it’s not because Solas is a bad father or anything” At the last sentence, Varric leveled her with a laden look – no doubt catching up with her unspoken suspicions from earlier on. 

“What about Cole’s mother?”

“For as long as I can remember, it has always just been him and Cole. No one knows, really. And we aren’t going to pry either – Chuckles values his privacy a lot, if you couldn’t tell from looking at his face”

Ellana sighed. Although Varric has been nothing but informative, she is still missing the most important piece of her question. And to be fair, it’s not like anyone but Cole and the Mayor himself could tell her how they knew her. She finished the last of her wine before glancing out of the window – startled to find that the sky is already blushing red and ochre with the sunset. 

“Well, I guess I should look for a place to stay, now that I’m vacationing and everything” Ellana chuckled, gesturing at the darkening skies with her empty glass. 

“Search no further, then. Leliana there is your gal if you’re looking for room and board“

As if on cue, Leliana had sauntered back in front of the bartop, carrying a small menu sheet that she slid across the table to them “And room and board you shall find next door. But first – Anyone interested in an early dinner?”

A hearty serving of Ferelden stew and half a bottle of wine later, Ellana found herself being led to a corridor which apparently connected the small dinner with the two-story building next door. As with the diner, the inn was decorated simply but impeccably in warm woods and soft fabrics. A running motif of nightingales and tree vines, almost Dalish in its looping nature repeated itself in various corners of the small lobby – embroidered into the edges of cushions and engraved into the antique reception desk. Aside from the two of them, the lobby was completely empty, although it’s more a quiet sort of empty than a creepy one. 

“So you run the whole place by yourself?”

“Goodness, no” Leliana’s laugh is airy and light. “I have Harding and Charter take care of the inn through the high season, and and I have my partner, of course” At this, her pale cheeks flushed a pretty pink “Her work takes her out of town sometimes, like right now, but she’s here most of the year” 

Leliana proceeded to fuss with the guestbook on the reception desk, giving her a chance to glance at the many framed pictures hanging behind her. One of them depicts Leliana and a woman, most probably the partner she had mentioned. The woman is unmistakably Dalish, tanned and wild-haired, her slender arms thrown around a younger Leliana as they smile at the camera. They look happy, the same happiness that flitted across Leliana’s face but a moment ago. 

“Now, we have a square view and a mountain view, which is amazing in the summer – What would you prefer?”

“Anything would be good” Ellana smiles, glancing back at the woman before her.

“Square view it is! The park is lovely from your window this time of the year” Leliana rummaged inside the cabinet beneath her and handed her a key – A heavy brass affair with a small Raven perched at the top edge. Something seemed to flicker behind her eyes as the cool metal touched her fingers – A memory, lines of a map and a decisive click of metal settling against wood – And then it’s gone, and she blinked to see Leliana smiling at her. 

“Welcome to Skyhold”

 

Despite how charming and comfortable her room was, and how tired she was after her drive and the strange day, Ellana found it difficult to settle down for the night. The thing with Leliana just now was especially grating on her mind. Not only was it the same feeling of remembering that she had felt with Cole and the Mayor, but it was also slightly clearer, in a way. Like her mind is getting used to these strange flashes of images and feelings and is slowly making it clearer each time. Which is just plain weird, and also kind of scary. Is this the starting symptoms of a brain tumor or something? Should she just do a general checkup once she is home?

After an hour of tossing and turning on the pile of fluffy cushions provided with the room, Ellana sighed in defeat and scrambled out from the bed, shoving her feet back inside her boots. It doesn't seem likely that she'll be falling asleep anytime soon, so she might as well take a little walk to the park Leliana had mentioned since it’s such a warm night. 

The wine from earlier was giving her head a slight, pleasant buzz – but nothing to hinder her steps as she tread through the cobblestones of the town’s well-lit sidewalk. Despite the abundant lighting, the stars and moon above her were startingly clear – perhaps due to nothing else being around the town for miles.  
As her steps grew lighter, Ellana found herself rewinding back the day in her mind. She reminded herself to call Merrill later – although knowing her boss, she’d probably tell her to just stay there until her current book is done. Probaly something something about fresh air and picking up a ravishingly handsome county sherriff so her books could have more kissing scenes, or something. But she meant well, of course. Merrill has always been on about her finding ‘the perfect man’, despite, or probably exactly because of Ellana’s reluctance in doing so. 

It’s not like she didn’t want to, no. She’d had a few suitors during her time in the clan, but at that time she was always busy with things – helping out with the community centre, finishing graduate school in time, taking care of the da’lens under Deshanna’s program…And yet now that she is free to do as she likes, she found herself hesitant. No one had felt _right_ – even when they were kind and understanding, even when they had clearly loved her. She just didn’t feel any of the heart fluttering in your chests and it skipping a beat or any other things Merrill’s favorite novels usually spoke of, as if her heart was not really in it, somehow.

_“Did tall dark and extremely polite caught your eye? He is single, you know”_

Ellana snorted despite herself, remembering Varric’s teasing words. Yeah right, as if the only way she could feel the tiniest skip in her heart is for her to get tangled up with a runaway kid and meeting his Mayor dad. _Not_ that she felt that tiny skip, mind you. Ellana shook her head, deciding to head back before her wandering spawned more outlandish thoughts. 

And then she saw the wolf. 

It was white and huge and smack dead in the middle of the street before her. And it’s a _real_ wolf, not some overgrown Akita or Frostback Husky who escaped from someone’s backyard –Ellana has been to the preserve often enough that she knows her wildlife. She also knows that she’s supposed to back off silently and avoid eye contact at all costs.

Which apparently turned out to be super hard thing to do when the wolf is starting straight into your eyes from the get go. For a moment, Ellana is frozen in place, her heart hammering against her chest even as her mind screams that she can’t show any fear. The wolf’s eyes are blue and strangely intelligent, and she can’t seem to take her eyes off them. And least until the wolf shifted, breaking the spell and all of a sudden all of her pent-up terror bubbled up to the surface and Ellana found herself, despite all rational thought, _running_. 

The last thing she remembered was her feet slipping – the edges of her boots caught against a loose stone before she crashed into the sidewalk. And then everything went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...Who else has the headcanon that modern!Leliana would be a pinterest goddess? XD


	5. Chapter 5

The first thing Ellana saw through the hazy morning light was the row of prison bars, and _that_ was more than enough to push her consciousness into overdrive. She jerked upright, realizing that someone had laid a coat atop her as a makeshift blanket, which slid down into the ground as she looked around her wildly. It took her some time to realize that she is actually outside of said bars, and that she’s lying on a fairly plushy couch instead of some dubious county jail cot. It took a bit longer for her heart to stop racing and her mind to catch up - 

Skyhold. She’s in Skyhold. She came here to bring the kid back, she had decided to stay - There was the wolf, and then - 

Keys jangled outside the door before the doorknob twisted, revealing the blond Sheriff she had seen yesterday, already fully attired and balancing two styrofoam cups and a stack of paper in his hands.

“Oh, you’re awake. How’s the head?“

His voice is deep and easy, and combined with the reassuring smile and cup he handed to her – warm and emanating the unmistakable scent of caffeine – totally succeeded in stopping her from having the meltdown one potentially has upon finding themselves in a police station come morning. The coffee scalded her tongue, but a quick gulp instantly made her feel like a person again. 

“Oh, my head? It’s..” Her hand reached to the side of her head, where it most likely had hit the sidewalk curb, and found…nothing. No pain, no swelling, not even any slight discomfort, which was plain weird – If it had been bad enough to knock her out, she reckoned there should be at least _something_.

“It’s actually…good”

“Glad to hear” He smiled again before sitting on the chair across from her “In any case, I’m Sheriff Rutherford – But everyone calls me Cullen so you could go ahead and do so, too - Ah, of course, that is if you don’t mind” 

“Ah, Ellana. Ellana Lavellan – although you probably know that already from my ID or something. Thank you for helping me out there, Cullen” It was her turn to smile, now, and it was hard not to - there was something about the man that made her instantly comfortable. Almost like sitting down with an old friend that she trusts - Which was a strange word for her mind to choose. Caffeine-bringing Sheriff or no, _trust_ seem a bit of an excessive sentiment when applied to random officers of the law she just met.

“This is kinda new to me, actually” His laugh is as warm and disarming as his smile was, and brought her attention back to the man before her “We actually never get drunk tourists before, I mean – I really meant no offense-“ He flushed, eyes darting to meet hers “Did a man named Varric rope you into one of his drinking games? Kind of short, lots of chest hair - Because I can have some words with him about it”

“I wasn’t drunk” Ellana said flatly, feeling her eyebrows knot together at the assumption. Well okay, she probably _was_ a bit drunk. A teensy bit. But definitely not so drunk that she just conjured up the imagery of endangered animals gallivanting across town before faceplanting into the ground for no reason whatsoever. 

“There was a wolf standing on the middle of the road. I ran away from it, stumbled, and probably hit my head as I went down” 

The sherrif looked at her quizzically – his face caught between concern and incredulity and at once Ellana realized how outlandish it must have sounded. “A…wolf?”

But hey, in for a copper, in for a sovereign. “Yes”

Cullen was silent for some moment “Well, if that is the case, I could definitely drop a line with Dalish later on – Ah she’s the park ranger stationed just outside town. We call her Dalish because she is er…Dalish” His cheek reddened as she stared at him with her all-too-Dalish face. But even through his blush, she could see his eyes giving her another once over, and for a moment she is worried that her status had just changed from ‘drunken tourist’ to ‘tourist on an elfroot joyride’

“Well, in any case…”

Whatever the Sheriff was about to say was cut off by the police station doors being thrown open, followed by the slight click-clacking of good heels before Leliana stormed into the room. 

“Oh thank the Maker!” The redheaded woman gasped in relief “I was worried when you didn’t come down for breakfast or answer your door, but I only realized now that you could be here” After looking her up and down for any sign of anything amiss, Leliana turned sharply towards the sheriff and shot an accusatory glance at the man, who had visibly shrank back into his chair in some kind of reflexive self-defense mechanism “Next time, Cullen, you might want to check on the only inn in town before you incarcerate innocent tourists!”

“I didn’t – I wasn’t arresting her!” Cullen spluttered, and at that moment he reminded her so much of the Da’lens back home – Always in utter terror at the prospect of angering the older sisters they have in the clan. Whatever these two before her has between them, Ellana could feel that the sheriff respects Leliana a lot, and is utterly terrified of her at the same time.

“Actually, he didn’t” Ellana interjected, bringing Leliana’s attention back to her “I had a little accident during my little walk last night, and Cullen here was kind enough to bring me here” 

Leliana arched a perfect eyebrow at her before her gaze slid back to Cullen “Well, if the lady says so – Good work, Cullen” A split second later, her face broke into a bright smile “Now that it’s all sorted out, let’s get you out of here, shall we?” 

Ellana collected her purse and her phone from the table in front of her, and picked up the coat from the floor before folding it – Turning towards the Sheriff, who had also rose from his seat. 

“I’m sorry for all the trouble” She grinned, rather sheepishly “And again, thank you so much. I’m sure it wasn’t fun dragging me all the way here last night”   
At this, the sheriff seemed to remember something – his hands reaching up to nervously comb through his hair. 

“Well, it wasn’t me, actually”

Ellana’s eyes widened – Scenario after mortifying scenario flitting in quick succession through her mind. Had she perhaps, in a drunken haze that she didn’t remember, crawl up the police station’s doorstep? Did she puke on anyone? Did she possibly sing? Oh Creators, Oghren is going to have a blast when he finds out about this. 

“It was the mayor – I wanted to tell you earlier, but didn’t really get the chance” His eyes darted at Leliana, and then apologetically at her. But what he said did not really compute to her, did he just say - 

“Huh?” the question came out much less eloquent than she had phrased it in her mind. 

“The Mayor takes these night walks, sometimes. Came across you on the sidewalk and brought you here, since he didn’t know where you were staying or if you were staying at all” 

Ellana stared at the sheriff, and then stared some more. At Cullen’s words, some kind of floodgate had opened inside her still muddled head – Bringing a wave of jumbled half-remembered memories her sleep had blocked. Snippets of noises, hands touching, gentle – too gentle, like she might break. Warmth. A familiar scent pressed against her nose. There’s no way - 

“Did you mean he, like..” Ellana made an almost unconscious gesture with her hand, lifting up and cradling “Carried me here?”

Cullen’s cheek flushed red again – only slightly this time but somehow, she picked it up right away “Pretty much, yes” He seemed to remember something again before gesturing at the coat on her hand “Oh, and that is also his, by the way”

Warmth. Warmth and a familiar scent pressed to her nose, all around her. 

“I see” Ellana said in a small voice. 

This is _absurd_. 

Leliana’s car is tidy and warm and smelled faintly of cinnamons, and she sank gratefully on the passenger’s seat as Leliana gunned the engine. 

“Cullen is such a darling, isn’t he?” She turned to see Leliana grinning, mischief glinting in her eyes “He was my partner’s high school friend – Guy’s always been a tad twitchy” She laughed “But he makes a good sheriff. Actually does all those climbing trees to save kitten stuff, if you’d believe it” 

It took only a second for Ellana to conjure up the image of Cullen, face fraught with concentration and resolve, trying to wrangle a kitten from a tree branch – The image almost too true to life. She joined Leliana’s laugh before turning fully to the woman beside her, her laugh receding into a small smile “He does make a good sheriff” 

Leliana’s own smile, in return, is filled with barely concealed pride. “That he does”

They drove in companionable silence for a while, the familiar thatched roof of the inn coming into view in no time at all. And then, as if as an afterthought, Leliana said 

“But it is rather curious”

“what is?” 

“Solas” The car slides smoothly into its designated parking spot, and Leliana turned off the ignition, slowly turning towards her and eyeing the coat folded on her lap with an unreadable expression “Even yesterday, he seems…quite taken with you” 

The coat suddenly felt heavy beneath her folded hands, warm and soft like fur and it smelled like her memories. _Ellana_ , he said, yesterday. And now his scent is all over her and somehow, she remembers, remembers another time when this scent, this warmth enveloped her completely.

 _What the hell._

Ellana’s throat is suddenly too dry, and she shook her head “I wouldn’t know about that” For all she knew, perhaps it was just the way the Mayor behaved. Perhaps he was just overjoyed that his son didn’t end up swallowed by the big bad city. Perhaps it was nothing at all. 

Leliana smiled knowingly, almost as if she had read her mind and outright dismissed her admittedly flimsy justifications. The woman knew, as she herself does, that something is indeed up. 

She just wished she knew what exactly it was.


End file.
